Shuttle for weft replenishing looms



Nov. 4, 1941. R. G. TURNER SHUTTLE FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed July 8, 1940 ATTORNEY UNETED Patented Nov. 4, 1941 @ATENT OFFICE This invention relates to shuttles for weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a shuttle which facilitates thread cutting at the time of, a. weft replenishing operation.

At the timeof weft replenishment itis desirable to cut the thread :of the outgoing-bobbin to facilitate its removal from the shuttle eye. It

- is an-important-object of my present invention to provide a shuttle which will deliverthe th163,d =1() at its top so that the thread can extend between and be cut by the rings on the incoming and outgoing bobbins .at the time of a transferring operation.

Many. shuttles of the'self-threading type em- 15..

ploy friction pads between which the weftpasses as it leaves the bobbin, but as heretofore constructed these pads have been guided by a pin or rod which passes through their lower ends.

the outgoing bobbin is always held between-the pads which exert a snubbing effect on the. thread of the outgoing bobbin tending to hold the thread ,in the shuttle eye. It is a further object of my present invention to. provide the tension pads with separate guides which are out of the path of the thread of the outgoing bobbin, thereby permitting the thread to move to a position below the pads .andbe freed from their. snubbing front of the threadpassage, and combine the deliveryeye with thefront block. In this-way the front block can be renewed when worn-withoutthe necessity of replacingthe:rear blocl -With these and otherobjects in vieww-hich will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and vset forth.

In :the accompanyingdrawing;v wherein 811C011- -.venient. embodiment :of my. invention isset forth,

1 Fig. 1. is afrontielevationtof. a;shuttle made according to my.- present: invention, together-with parts of 1 the .transfer; mechanism and; the. supporting. lay, partsibeingl in ,1 section,

Fig. 21sv aiplan iViGW looking. in ,the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1,

. Figs; 3.and. 4 are-detailed vertical .sectionsnon lines; 3+3, and '4e4,=:respective1yt;oi Fig; 2,

-As a result of this-construction-thethread of 20 Fig. 5, isanenlarseddetailed.:front .elevation of the front part of the shuttle eye,

Fig. 6. is a, diagrammatic view-;sho,wingg the thread cutting operation as effectedbythe-rings of two bobbins,

action. Thisremoval of-pad tension is .particug larly useful with a type of thread cutter which may not completely sever the thread, as it allows the full tension created in the weft by the descending. bobbin tobe exerted on the weakened point in the thread. and complete the severing operation.

.A further feature of my invention .residestin the fact that the delivery eye, being at the top of the shuttle, permits the front. wall of .the

' Fig; 7 is a diagrammatic plan view :showing the relation of the shuttle and .the; adjacent selvage,

Fig. 8 is arear elevation of the frontshuttle eye block,

--Fig. 9 is an endelevation takenin the direction of arrow 9, Fig. 8,, and as viewedfrom-the center of the shuttle,

Fig. 10 is a-front elevation of the rear. shuttle eye block,

i Fig. 11 is anend elevation in :the, directionzof arrow l I, Fig. 10, as viewed from the centenof the shuttle,

shuttle adjacent the shuttle eye to be uninterq o rupted and of the same general form'as the corresponding surface at the opposite end of. the shuttle. For this reason shuttle checking can be made substantiallyuniform at both ends of. the

loom since the contacting areas between the.. 45,

shuttle and the checks are of substantially the same extent.

Heretofore shuttles have had delivery :eyes in their front walls and have had a thread passage extending through a single block of metal. front part of the blocks and the delivery eyes are subjectedto more wear than the back part of the block. It is a further objectof my present invention to provide a shuttle eye made of two Fig. 12 is adetail plan view in thedirectionj of arrow-l2, Fig. 5, and

Fig. .13 is an end .elevation of the tensionpads taken in the direction of arrow 13, Fig. 1-,- and spaced to suggest I the uninterrupted passage ,for

the thread.

Referringrto the drawing, the loom :layLsupports a shuttleShaving ,front andeback vertical walls land 9, respectively, andopartsof a reserve bobbin magazineMareshown which position a reservebobbinhR'under av transferrer arm T vfor. insertioninto theshuttle. The shuttle has a weft compartment 0 for a weftcarrierD which eventually will be expelled downwardly from the shuttle through a slot am the lay.

The left-end .ofjthe, shuttle as :shown. in the .drawing is provided with a pair of spring .'-jaws separate blocks, one behind and tl1e. other in 55 :Iflwhichgripthelrings,lI oftherbobbinD shown in the shuttle as depleted, and the incoming or reserve bobbin R. is also provided with rings |2 to be held by the jaws Ill. The left end of the shuttle is provided with a downwardly inclined cam guide I5 formed preferably of sheet steel and having an upper horizontal plate l6 preferably located below the top surface 11 of the shuttle. A notch l8 in the body of the shuttle permits the thread to lie close to the steel plate l6. A forwardly facing hook I9 is carried by the plate l6 and limits rearward motion of the weft thread W, as shown in Fig. 3. The opposite end of the shuttle is provided with an eye designated generally at E to be described in detail hereinafter.

As shown in Fig. 7, the shuttle S is at rest on the lay L at a distance from the selvage of the fabric F and the weft thread W extends from the selvage along the lay and into the operating zone of a thread controlling mechanism 20 similar to that shown for instance in my prior patent No. 2,199,296.

The mechanism 26 is illustrative of but one of several thread controlling systems which may be employed with my invention. Pivoted to the lay is the usual binder or check B. which stops the shuttle in position for transfer. not shown will also have a binder similar to The other end of the lay that shown in Fig. '7.

At the time of transfer the thread W is posi-.

. tioned by hook l9 to lie over rings H and under rings l2, and as bobbin R descends its rings force 'thexthread W against the rings II and either sever it completely or weaken it suificiently to facilitate complete severance by the tension created in the thread as the depleted bobbin descends. The cutting features and, the hook I 9 require that the weft thread extend along the top of the shuttle, and to accomplish this result I effect delivery of thethread at the top of the shuttle eye E.

I Referring more particularly to Figs. 2 and 4 I show the shuttle eye E as formed of two separate blocks 25 and 26 located respectively behind and in front of a thread passage 21 defined be- 26 has a foot 3| extending rearwardly across the bottom of passage 21 and formed with a vertical rear wall 32 held against the rear block 25 by a bolt 33 which passes through both blocks and is held to the shuttle in the usual way. Parallel vertical walls 34 of the shuttle body closely engage the front of block 26 and the back of block 25 to position the eye laterally of the shuttle.

Tension is exerted on the thread by two independently mounted friction pads 35 and 36 supported respectively by the blocks 25 and 26. The

rear pad 35 is provided with a guide stem 31 which is slidable in the rear block 25 and a light compression spring 38 acts to hold the rear pad In a similar guide pin 46 guided for sliding motion in the front block and a light spring 4| pushes the front pad rearwardly. The top of the rear pad is bent rearwardly as at 42 to enter a pocket 43 in the block 25, and similarly the top of the front pad is bentforwardly as at 44 to enter a guide pocket 45in the front block. The pads are thereforeguided at their upper and lower ends and are urged toward'each other, but it will be from each other and do not pass across the space between the pads when the latter are spaced as shown in Fig. 13 to define an unobstructed vertical passage between them.

The two blocks 25 and 26 rest on a floor 46 formed .on the shuttle body between and below walls 34, but the bottoms of the pads terminate above the floor 46 so that the left end of the thread passage 21 extends under the pads for a reason to be set forth hereinafter.

The front block 26 is provided with an upwardly and forwardly inclined thread slot 50 the bottom of which as viewed in Fig. 5, is defined by a large curved thread guiding surface 5|. This thread engaging surface 5| is curved in a direction toward the right end of the shuttle as viewed in Fig. 1, or convex toward the adjacent end of the shuttle. The lower end of slot 50 enters the thread passage 21. The front block 26 is also provided with a guide ring 52 in front of slot 56 and into which projects a trap pin 53 carried by horn 29 and extending forwardly across slot 50, see Fig. 12. The lower left part of slot 50 lies in front of a thin partition 53a projecting into the thread passage 21 and formed as an extension to the left of horn 29.

The front part of slot 50 is defined by ledge 60 along the top of which extends a thread groove 6| the bottom of which is a continuation of the curved guide surface 5|. The body of the shuttle is formed with a groove 62 which is a continuation of the groove 6|, and the grooves are oblique so that a thread extending along them is directed toward thehook H] and over rings As shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the foot 3| projects rearwardly under the thread passage 21 and has passing therethrough an aperture 64 to receive bolt 33. Correspondingly, the rear block 25 has a pad or surface 65 to engage the foot 3| and is provided with an aperture 66 which aligns with aperture 64 when the bolt is passing through both blocks. .As shown in Fig. 10 the front wall of the block 25 may be provided with a groove 61 which lies at the rear of the thread passage 21. The blocks 25 and 26 have flat bottom surof the bolt 33 and engage the floor 46. The

guide pins 31 and 40 slide in small bearings 15 and springs 38 and 4| are received by pockets 16 formed in the plates 25 and 26.

When the reserve bobbin R is in transfer position in the magazine its weft end W' will lead to a'thread holder 10 indicated in Fig. 1. At the time of transfer the rings 2 will sever the weft of the depleted bobbin as already described and the depleted bobbin will be forced downwardly out of the shuttle and pass through the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, thereby placing the weft thread W under tension. Bobbin D will draw thread W to a position below the pads 35 and 36 and thus free it from the snubbing effect. W extending from the rings to the right, Fig. l, is therefore free to pass along grooves 62 and 6| and around the friction surface 5| and downwardly through thread passage 21 along the dotted line path below the pads. The thread end passes freely through the shuttle eye and is completely removed therefrom when the depleted bobbin comes to rest in the bobbin can not shown under the lay. The mechanism designated at 20 operatesto hold that part of the weft W extending from the rings of the bobbin to the cloth.

That partof the weft thread the time of transfer.

-thelay by the binders. block 25 which is subject to wear may be replaced without loss of the rear block.

. After :the reserve bobbin. R has been inserted In its downward motion the behind On the return'flight of theshuttle the thread will be -drawn back under horn 29 and will be directed'by partition 53a to the lower end of slot 50. It then moves upwardly and forwardly from threadpassage 2! into the slot 50 and around the lower-part of friction surface 5|.

*momentarily deflected forwardly by the inclined frontface 'l6 of trap 53,after which it will con- It Will be tinue to move to the left with respect to the eye as viewed in Fig. 5, for instance, to become wrappedaround the surface 5| and extend along the grooves BI and 62 toward hook 19.

When the shuttle is again picked to the left,

Fig. '7, the thread will move out of grooves BI and B2 andalong a'portion of slot 58 until it reaches the part '17 of trap 53 which extends directly forwardly into ring -52 to prevent further movement of the thread out ofthe slot 5%. Since the -weft is delivered at the top of the shuttle, the

front wall I can be made the same at both ends.

The endnear the spring jaws I0 is customarily smooth, but heretofore the delivery eye has been i at the curved part of the wall which engages the binder B at the magazine end of the loom.

-- By-my invention 1- am enabled to make the front wall at the eye end substantially the same as the opposite end, thereby insuring even checking '-of theshuttle by the binders at both ends of the lay.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a shuttle constructed to effect delivery of the weft thread along an upper surface so that the weft extends over the shuttle and across the the-eye. It will further be noted that the guide "-su-rface'EI has a relatively large radius of curvature so that the weft is not required to pass around asharp corner, a feature which facilitates removal of the thread from the shuttle eye at Also, the front wall of the shuttle adjacent to the shuttle eye is smooth and uninterrupted from top to bottom, thus aiding in uniform checking of the shuttle at both ends of Furthermore, the front Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention-and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a shuttle having a weft carrying compartment from which a weft thread extends toward one end of the shuttle and having also a vertical thread passage in said end of the shuttle communicating with the thread compartment and into which the weft passes by a downward motion when the shuttle is in normal running position a shuttleeye block secureddn saidfend of: the shuttle in fIOIltTOfl the; thread passage,:;and

. means .in. said. block defining an upwardlyiand forwardly extending slot which terminatesiati the top of the iblockaand communicates with'the threadpassageand which the weft passes by an upward motionwhen leaving the bottom 'of the thread passage to be delivered from the top :of the shuttle eye block.

2. In a shuttle having aweftlcarrying. compartment from which a wefttthread extends toward one end of the shuttle and having also a :vertical thread passage in said endof the shuttle communicating with the thread compartment and into which the weft. passes by a downward motion when the: shuttle is in normal running position, a thread eye block secured to the shuttle in front ofthe' thread passage and having therein an upwardly and forwardly extending slot'the bottom of which communicates with the thread passage and the top of which opens upwardly inthe top of the block so that a thread when leaving the bottom of thethread passage moves upwardly and forwardly'through said slot to be-delivered fromthe top of the shuttle eye block.

3. In a shuttle havinga weft carrying compartment from which a weft thread extends toward one end of the shuttle'and having also a vertical thread passage in said end of the shuttle communicating with i the thread compartment and into which the weft passes by a downward motion when the shuttle is in normal running position,- and a thread block secured to the shuttle eye in front of the threadpassage and having an upwardly-and forwardly extending slot having a'thread. engaging surface which is curved and convex toward the adjacent end'of the shuttle, said slot communicating at its lower end with the-thread passage and terminating at its upper-end in the top of the shuttle, a thread leaving the bottom of the thread' passage being led around said curved surfaceand moving upwardly and forwardly in said slot to be delivered 'at the top of the shuttle.

- 4. In a .shuttle'having a weft carrying compartment between front and back walls and from-which a weft thread extends toward one end of the shuttle and having'also a vertical thread-passage in said'end of the shuttle communicating with the thread compartment and into which the weft passes by a downwardmotion whenthe shuttle is in normal running-position, a shuttle block secured to the shuttle in front of the thread passage and having a thread receiving slot therein inclined upwardly and forwardly from the thread passage, the upper end of the slot opening upwardly at a point between the front andback walls of the shuttle, a thread leaving the bottom of the thread passage moving upwardly'and forwardly through said slot and being delivered from the top of the shuttle at a point between-the frontand back walls of. the shuttle.

5. In a shuttle having a .weft carrying compart- 1ment between frontand back-walls and from which a weft thread extends toward one end of the shuttle and having also a vertical thread passage in said end of the shuttle communicating with the thread compartment and which the weft passes by a downward motion when the shuttle is in normal running position, a shuttle block secured to the shuttle in front of the thread passage and having a thread receiving slot therein inclined upwardly and forwardly from the thread passage, the upper end of the slot opening upwardly at a point between the front and back walls of the shuttle, and the bottom of the slot having a curved surface which is convex with respect to the adjacent end of the shuttle, a thread leaving the bottom of the thread passage extending upwardly and forwardly in the slot and along said curved surface to be delivered at the top of the shuttle at a point between the front and back walls thereof.

6. In a shuttle having a weft carrying compartment from which a weft thread extends into a vertical thread passage communicating with the compartment when the shuttle is in normal running position, and located in one end of the shuttle, a shuttle eye block secured in said end of the shuttle in front of the thread passage, means in said block defining an upwardly and forwardly extending slot which terminates at the top of the block and communicates at its lower end with the thread passage, said block having a thread groove communicating with the slot and extending along the top thereof toward the weft compartment, the thread entering the vertical thread passage by a downward motion and when leaving the thread passage travelling upwardly through said slot, the slot and groove forming a recess which is the sole guide for the thread between the thread passage and the point of delivery of the thread from said groove.

'7. In a shuttle having a weft carrying compartment from which a weft thread extends into a thread passage communicating with the compartment and located in one end of the shuttle, a shuttle eye block secured in said end of the shuttle in front of the thread passage, means in said block defining an upwardly and forwardly extending slot which terminates at the top of the block and communicates at its lower end with the thread passage, the bottom of the slot being curved and convex with respect to the adjacent end of the shuttle, means carried by the block defining an opening communicating with said slot in a direction transversely of the shuttle, other means extending from the opposite side of the slot into said opening adjacent to said curved bottom of the slot and also adjacent to the top of the block, said other means having an inclined surface extending across the slot and into the opening and extending in a direction transversely of the shuttle and toward the weft compartment on the side of said other means remote from said curved surface, that part of said other means adjacent to the curved surface extending transversely across the slot and into said opening to serve as a thread guide, a thread extending from the block toward the weft compartment lying in said slot and passing over said inclined surface of said other means into said opening and then engaging the curved surface, said thread when extending away from the weft compartment leaving said curved surface tangentially and having engagement with that part of said other means adjacent to the curved surface.

8. In a shuttle to be reciprocated along a lay at each end of which is a shuttle checking element for engagement with the front wall of the shuttle, said shuttle having a weft; compartment andv a vertical thread passage leading therefrom toward one end of the shuttle and substantially parallel to said front wall, and a shuttle eye carried by said end of the shuttle having means to define an upwardly extending path from the bottom of the thread slot to the top of the shuttle at a point behind the front wall, a thread after having entered the thread passage by a downward motion extending upwardly along said means and being delivered from the shuttle eye at the top of the shuttle and behind said front wall, both ends of the shuttle front wall being curved rearwardly toward the longitudinal center of the shuttle and having a continuous surface extending from the top to the bottom of said front wall, whereby substantially similar front wall surfaces are acted upon by the aforesaid shuttle checking element.

9. In a shuttle for a weft replenishing loom, bobbin holding clips located between the ends of the shuttle to hold a bobbin having metallic rings in the shuttle, a thread delivery eye between one end of the shuttle and said holding clips to deliver the thread at the top of the shuttle, and a thread guide between the other end of the shuttle and said holding clips, a straight line drawn from the delivery eye to the guide to pass over the metallic rings held by the holding clips.

10. In a shuttle for a weft replenishing loom, bobbin holding clips located between the ends of the shuttle to hold the rings of a bobbin in the shuttle, means between one end of the shuttle and the holding clips to deliver the thread at the top of the shuttle to a given point transversely of the shuttle, a thread guide between the other end of the shuttle and said holding clip to place the thread at another given point transversely of the shuttle, a straight line joining said point and said other point extending over the top of the rings held by the holding clips.

11. A shuttle for a weft replenishing loom having a weft carrying compartment, a shuttle delivery eye to deliver weft drawn from the compartment at the top of the shuttle, a thread guide to place the thread drawn from the delivery eye, and shuttle holding clips located between said delivery eye and said guide with reference to the length of the shuttle to hold the rings of a bobbin in said compartment in position so that the tops of said rings are on substantially a straight line joining the delivery eye and said guide.

12. A shuttle for a weft replenishing loom con taining a bobbin having metallic rings located between the ends of the shuttle, a delivery eye between one end of the shuttle and said rings to deliver weft from the bobbin in the shuttle at the top of the latter, a thread guide between the other end of the shuttle and the rings to position the thread, a taut thread drawn from the delivery eye to said thread guide extending over the top of the rings.

RICHARD G. TURNER. 

